Your holistic admissions process shouldn't be limited by your budget
Every admissions team has a list of improvements they'd like to make. Maybe it's adding an assessment to gain a more holistic view of applicants. Maybe it's introducing structured interviews, engaging more reviewers, or investing in deeper insights to support defensible admissions decisions.
The challenge is finding room in the budget to make it happen.
At a time when admissions teams are expected to do more with limited resources, every investment needs to have a clear impact. Teams are balancing growing application volumes, increasing expectations around fairness and accessibility, and the need to identify best-fit students efficiently. That's where Applicant Pay can help.
Applicant Pay in Kira Talent gives admissions teams more flexibility to invest in the initiatives that matter most, without adding pressure to already stretched budgets.
Create budget flexibility for the admissions initiatives that matter most
Applicant Pay allows institutions to collect a nominal fee directly within the Kira platform when applicants complete an assessment.
Your team decides who pays and how much. Depending on the Applicant Pay model you choose, applicant payments can either offset the cost of your Kira contract or be remitted directly back to your institution for use within your admissions process.
This flexibility can help admissions teams:
- Introduce more holistic assessment methods without increasing departmental spending
- Expand access to tools such as Reviewer Services
- Scale admissions operations more efficiently as application volumes fluctuate
- Reallocate budget to other strategic priorities across the admissions process
Rather than postponing improvements because of budget limitations, admissions teams can create a path forward that aligns with their financial realities.
An enhanced experience for applicants and admissions teams
Applicant Pay can also support a more accessible and applicant-friendly admissions experience.
Traditional interview processes often require applicants to invest significant time and money in travel, accommodations, and time away from work, school, or family responsibilities. For many applicants, those costs can quickly exceed the nominal fee associated with a virtual assessment.
By moving key parts of the admissions process online, institutions can reduce barriers while still gaining meaningful insights into each applicant's communication skills, critical thinking, and program fit.
For schools that want to provide additional support, Applicant Pay also includes the ability to create coupon codes and fee waivers for applicants who meet specific criteria, helping admissions teams balance flexibility with equitable access.
All payments are securely collected within the Kira platform in accordance with PCI compliance requirements, eliminating the need for third-party payment systems or additional administrative work.
How Roseman Dental found room in the budget to modernize admissions
Roseman University College of Dental Medicine knew they wanted a more efficient and scalable way to evaluate applicants.
Their team saw an opportunity to reduce faculty workload, create a more streamlined review process, and continue identifying applicants who would thrive in their program.
The remaining question was budget.
As Dr. Harman, Associate Dean at Roseman Dental, explained:
"Everyone agreed that we wanted to transition our process to Kira. The last step was finding a way that wouldn't exceed our already stretched-thin budget."
Although the admissions team was confident in the value Kira could bring, they still needed a solution that would work within their financial constraints. Applicant Pay helped make that possible.
"With Applicant Pay, our applicants are able to pay for the assessment directly, rather than us incorporating a fee for it into the general application fee," explained Dr. Harman. "And with that, we're able to use Kira without having to pull those upfront costs from our limited budget."
The flexibility became even more valuable as the school transitioned to a new three-year program model and faced uncertainty around future application volumes.
"Part of our criteria for a new admissions solution was one that would not hugely impact our budget. Applicant Pay allows us to accommodate any kind of applicant volume fluctuation without disturbing our budget. This was especially top-of-mind for us as we were transitioning to our new three-year model, and didn't have historic information to help predict application numbers."
With Kira, Roseman was able to implement a more efficient admissions process while saving more than 800 hours of faculty time. Applicant Pay helped remove a key barrier to adoption, allowing the team to move forward with confidence.
As Dr. Harman reflected:
"Kira allows us to scale our admissions process in a way that does not impact our budget, which has made the higher-ups in the university very happy."
Invest in a stronger admissions process without increasing budget pressure
Budget constraints are a reality for nearly every admissions team. But they don't have to prevent your institution from adopting the tools, workflows, and insights needed to build a more efficient, equitable, and holistic admissions process.
Applicant Pay gives admissions teams the flexibility to move forward with confidence – creating opportunities to save time, support applicants, and identify best-fit students while staying aligned with institutional budgets.
